Evening All,
Thanks to all of you again for the complimentary remarks which I greatly value and appreciate. Thanks especially to IFF1418 for the anecdote from James Norman Hall - why is it that we all take great pleasure in sending up greenhorns? At least these machines would have saved more than a few lives in the absence of simulators as pilots learned the skills of lateral control.
I studied the undercarriage for some time before attempting it, not least because I think that it was by far the most difficult part of this build. Des' and IanB's builds also helped to give me some ideas but I decided that I could not emulate them so I would do my best using my own methods. The skids were made from 10 x 20 thou Evergreen strip glued to the underside of the fuselage and to two short extensions from the front vertical engine supports. The side legs, curved forks and axle were made from 5 amp fuse wire. This was rolled between two small blocks of hardwood to get it straight and then the forks were bent and curved using a pair of tweezers. The side legs are straight so they were cut to length. I glued the wheels on to the axle leaving about 1mm extension on the ends to stick the side legs to later. I superglued the forks to the axle and the bottom of the cross-bar below the engine. This operation was a real fiddle and I think that my model may sit a little high, despite my having carefully followed the plans. Finally I glued the straight side legs to the axle/fork joint and to small pieces of sprue glued to the uprights on the undercarriage frame. This was stronger than I had dared to hope but it will not survive a crash landing so L. Bleriot had better keep clear! Last of all I added the rudder and completed the rigging with rolled copper wire. The propellor was cut and shaped from a scrap of 60 thou card with a boss from 10 thou card. When painted it was glued to the front of the engine and the model was complete.
This was an interesting and unusual variant on an otherwise fairly well known machine, and certainly looks very different to the models of other aircraft: a trainer with a difference. I have posted more pictures in the completed models section for those who are interested.
Thanks for looking.
